The Archers is the longest-running soap opera in the world. The radio drama has been broadcast nationally since 1951 and has now survived for more than 10,000 episodes. But does Ambridge exist? How real is Eddie Grundy? What was the truth behind Brian Aldridge’s nasty accident? And how was a furry white rodent involved?
It’s not surprising that even the actors themselves are confused. For some of them fiction has merged with fact. We hear from members of the cast like Charles Collingwood (Brian Aldridge), Pauline Seville (Granny Perkins), Judy Bennett (Shula Hebden), Patricia Greene (Jill Archer), Norman Painting (Phil Archer), Trevor Harrison (Eddie Grundy), and Angela Piper (Jennifer Aldridge).
We also hear from the creator of The Archers, Godfrey Baseley, and scriptwriter, Paul Burns.
The fans join in the game, buying maps of Ambridge, spending the weekend on a tour of Archer country. We hear from a collection of Archers super fans, who never miss an episode.
“At a period when we’re approaching Armageddon,” says Archers fan, Professor E.M. Hugh-Jones, “perhaps it’s good to have something nice and ordinary going on.”
Clip taken from Forty Minutes, originally broadcast on BBC Two, 14 December, 1989.
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Credit to : BBC Archive